Improvement in boot and shoe soles



UNITED STATES ltaTENT Ormea,

OHAnLEs GOODYEAR, JE., OE NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOOT AND SHOE SOLES.

Specification forming part of Let-ters Patent No. 37,287, dated January 6, 1863.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHAR-Ens GOODYEAR, J r., of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boot and Shoe Soles and Parts ot' Soles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure lis a side view ofthe improved shoesile. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a plan of a half-sole or tip.

The nature of my invention consists in the manufacture and use ot' boot and shoe soles and parts of soles made of vulcanized indiarubber or other vulcanizable material, in which is embeddedV or incorporated a form or forms or pieces of wire-cloth, or its equivalent, the said soles and parts of soles being vulcanized in molds, and the saidV forms or pieces of Wire-cloth being incorporated With the vulcanizable material during the process of vulc inization.

Boot and shoe soles and parts of soles have heretofore been made of vulcanized india-rubber, but such soles, by reason of the softness and elasticity of the vulcanized material, could not be attached and fastened toI the upper part of the boots or shoes by means of common metallic nails, but through my improve ment we are enabled to use vulcanized indiarubber soles and parts ot' soles like leather, and lto firmly attach and fasten them to the upper parts by means of copper or other metallic nails.

Other advantages resulting from my improvement are superior durability and sup erior cheapness by the introduction of iron or other metal intoV the soles or parts of soles in the pla-ce of a similar bulk of vulcanized material, and the great ad vantage of imparting any desired curved forms to the soles or parts of soles, owing to the stiffness of the metal and its tendency to retain the shape in which it comes from the mold.

I deem it a very important feature of usefulness of my improvement that by means of it we are enabled to repair partially-worn boots and shoes by nailing the half-soles or taps upon the worn soles of the boots or shoes, a

process so simple and` easy that any common shoe-maker provided with the ready-formed halfsoles or taps can put it in operation.

Having thus described the nature of my improvement, I proceed to describe the method of manufacture of the soles and parts of soles.

I take any good vulcanizable material, sometimes using waste scraps of other india-rubber manufactures, in which there-is a proportion of fibrous material, and having by processes wellknown to india-rubber manufacturers formed it into sheets of suitable thickness, I punch or stamp out of the sheets the forms of the soles or parts of soles of such sizes as to nearly fill the molds, hereinafter referred to. I- then take molds similar in construction to those commonly used by india rubber manufacturers of molded articles, preferring type-metal as the material for them, the molds being cast in the exact shape of the intended soles or parts of soles. It is unnecessary to describe more minute] y the processes of preparing the molds, as that is an art well known. I then place the forms of vulcanizable material in the molds. I then punch or cut out of sheets of wire-cloth or perforated iron, or other equivalent of wirecloth, forms or pieces of the size, nearly, of the intended soles or parts of soles, and,hav ing curved or bent theminto the desired shape, place the pieces of wirecloth upon the top of the vulcanizable material in the molds, (see drawings, Figs. l and 2,) the wire-cloth 'w w w, (see drawings, Fig. 2,) being placed upon the surface which will when worn be nearest the foot. I press the wire-cloth well into the vulcanizable material, so that it will be completely embedded in it, and the edges of the wirecloth will be surrounded and covered. by the vulcanizable material. I then close the molds, and, placing them in either a steam-heater or dry-heater, subject the articles to the process of vulcanization. When desirable, for the sake of lightness or' elasticity, the central or other portions of the wire-cloth forms may be cut out and removed before being embedded iu the vnlcanizable material; and to prevent undue stiffness the forms ot'wire-eloth, instead otbeing whole, may, if desired,be made in sections or parts. I sometimes mold a groove, g

g g, (see drawings, Fig. 3,) in the bottom ofthe soles or parts of soles, around and near the edge, t0 serve as aguide for and to receive the nails with which the soles or parts of soles are to be attached or fastened to the upper parts of the boots or shoes.

' I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- As a new manufacture, boot and shoe soles and parts of soles composed of vulcanized india-rubber or other vulcanizable material and Wireeloth or its equivalent, substantially as herein described.

GHAS. GOODYEAR, J R. Witnesses:

JOHN R. MoRHoUs, JAMES A. BORR. 

